Shazam! #5

In the latest chapter of "Shazam and the Seven Magic Lands," the kids visit the Gamelands, a colorful world of races and games where all that matters are your high scores! But as good as Pedro and Eugene are with their arcade cred, can they score high enough to survive it?

As the first arc continues, more of the older mythos continues to come into play as Johns, and his long line of artists seed in more new and fun concepts. Building slowly towards the inevitable showdown between Black Adam and the Marvel Family proves to keep fans chomping at the bit for more while learning about the brand new corners of the DCU. Read Full Review

Are you ready to have some fun? Well look no further than this book because each and every issue jams as much of it as it can hold. I love these heroes so much and Geoff Johns is finding cool and clever ways to split up our time within these different magiclands and allowing us to discover just who these heroes are. The art, even with having four artists is great and my biggest concern right now is that we have so much story and only so much room to tell it each issue. Read Full Review

This issue didn't move a lot of the plot forward and the segments didn't get enough time to advance anything. Still, the charm of this book remains seeing the Marvel Family deal with these bizarre challenges. Johns teases a big clash that begins to take shape here, which should be very exciting for longtime Shazam fans. This was the first issue that felt like the deliberate wait for the trade pacing, but even so this was still a fun installment of a surprisingly great series. Read Full Review

Whoa! There's certainly a LOT happening at once in this issue and it can get a little congested. But the prevalent fun and new mythology Johns is building up around this franchise still holds it in good stead. It doesn't need so many artists either but at the same time, none of the art is remotely bad. Never mind that it isn't the most accessible of issues to read, the wall to wall ideas packed in and solid writing still make this a very enjoyable read. Read Full Review

Despite these minor hiccups I still enjoyed Shazam #5 and am looking forward to seeing where the coming issues take Shazam, and all of his brothers and sisters. As we have only seen four of the seven magic lands, I'm most specifically hoping that we will get to see some of the others soon, preferably as one big happy family. Read Full Review

VerdictThis isn't your father's (or grandfather's) Captain Marvel, but it still is a fun book, which has a unique feel that sets it in a different class from other superhero books. While Shazam has a number of modern touches, I feel that this version still maintains the spirit of the character readers have loved for decades. Read Full Review

The issue's four artists " Marco Santucci, Dale Eaglesham, Scott Kolins, and Max Raynor " are all terrific, but the "jam issue" aspect of the comic lends itself to uneven pacing and visual tone. Read Full Review

While there are a lot of elements here I do like, the constantly growing cast of characters and subplots is starting to drag this story-arc's pacing a bit too much for my liking. And with the need for four pencillers this issue, the normally terrific visuals of this series also starting to suffer. Hopefully, this series can get back on track soon. Read Full Review

Shazam #5 feels pretty weak compared not only to past issues, but other comics written by Geoff Johns. Having different artists on each segment of the issue was a great idea and didn't disturb the flow of the story whatsoever. But the cliched dialogue and the fact that hardly anything happens is a pretty big negative for me. Read Full Review

A very well written issue! Johns' has definitely set this arc up as the possible story to adapt in the Shazam sequel, but that doesn't hinder from the story. The Magiclands have a lot of lore that goes into them and Johns is slowly exploring them equally. Can't wait for next month's issue!

Okay, some of the scenes in this issue were really dark but it seemed necessary so it's alright I guess. I just couldn't have more fun out of the Wildlands and Gamelands, every single matter that was discussed in there is written exceptionally well. May be this will be adapted to the Shazam! film sequel, what do you know Geoff Johns has outlined one of a kind story one more time succeeding his run on the New 52 Shazam!

Mary at long last has transformed to beat some sense into King Kid (Seriously, he deserves some spanking). Sivana confronts Black Adam head on at the end of this comic, that's going to be momentous.

Great issue and looking forward to next issue! Good artwork but could tell it was changing, which was a shame! Quiver would be, feel like the story didn’t move much since last issue. As of now, least interested in the battle between Sivanna and Adam, hopefully next issue can change that.

Still having a lot of fun reading this, even if the story is moving forward very slowly due to story being split in four or five different sections. But they're all very well-written, and all artists suit the story very well as well, so it's no big deal.

I'm having a bit of a hard time with this book. I love Geoff Johns' writing, I like Shazam and his family, but this series is dragged down by a few things and this issue shows that well.

Writing for Billy and his siblings is great but on the other hand, what I realized after the second issue, the story of Magic Lands is not that captivating. I'm much more interested in the part about Mr. Batson, but that will probably be explored more in later issues.
I was also hoping that the inclusion of Black Adam would energize the story, but all I can say about him in this issue is, that he's in it.

And the thing that bugs me the most is the inconsistent art. Different artists, different styles and none of them really stand out. The only one I can get behind is the one form Magic Land's version of Zootopia. That one was pretty good and had some nice colors.more